Elizabeth Johnson

Who you? My partner, George Low and I opened Seed Flora back in October 2006. We've been in the flower industry for over 28 years, though. We just always knew we wanted to open our own shop.

How did you get into flowers? When I was a little girl, I used to sketch plants in the garden. I think I probably drove my mum nuts, picking all the flowers and bringing them inside to draw.

What's been your best work? We did all the David Jones window arrangements for their spring flower show in September, the Lady Diana exhibition, and the 2005 Margaret Preston show at the AGNSW. Putting together the Preston event was really a standout job. We got to incorporate native Australian plants inspired by her paintings.

It smells really good in here. I can smell it a little bit when I first come in, but then my nose goes numb. I think I've become immune to it. We get a lot of beautiful light, especially in the morning. The plants love it here.

How do you branch out? Flowers are great for word of mouth. It's nice, because people will give them, and then the people that receive them love them so much, they'll call us up and send them to someone else. It's really the gift that keeps on giving.

So business is blooming, then? Yes. We have good relationships with growers and can pretty much go to their field and cut what we need. We want to do more customised, creative stuff than pre-arranged flowers. The market is getting more diverse for that sort of thing. We also do a lot of big arrangements for special occasions like Christmas, weddings, and Mother's Day, especially.

It's Mother's Day this Sunday. Is it hellishly busy? Oh, no! It is busy, but we really look forward to it. It's really lovely seeing husbands, children, young families all coming in to buy because they know mum loves the shop.
Joanna Rieke

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